Usage

Currently libc by default links to the standard library, but if you would
instead like to use libc in a #![no_std] situation or crate you can request
this via:

[dependencies]
libc = { version = "0.2", default-features = false }

What is libc?

The primary purpose of this crate is to provide all of the definitions necessary
to easily interoperate with C code (or "C-like" code) on each of the platforms
that Rust supports. This includes type definitions (e.g. c_int), constants
(e.g. EINVAL) as well as function headers (e.g. malloc).

This crate does not strive to have any form of compatibility across platforms,
but rather it is simply a straight binding to the system libraries on the
platform in question.

Public API

This crate exports all underlying platform types, functions, and constants under
the crate root, so all items are accessible as libc::foo. The types and values
of all the exported APIs match the platform that libc is compiled for.

More detailed information about the design of this library can be found in its
associated RFC.

Adding an API

Want to use an API which currently isn't bound in libc? It's quite easy to add
one!

The internal structure of this crate is designed to minimize the number of
#[cfg] attributes in order to easily be able to add new items which apply
to all platforms in the future. As a result, the crate is organized
hierarchically based on platform. Each module has a number of #[cfg]'d
children, but only one is ever actually compiled. Each module then reexports all
the contents of its children.

This means that for each platform that libc supports, the path from a
leaf module to the root will contain all bindings for the platform in question.
Consequently, this indicates where an API should be added! Adding an API at a
particular level in the hierarchy means that it is supported on all the child
platforms of that level. For example, when adding a Unix API it should be added
to src/unix/mod.rs, but when adding a Linux-only API it should be added to
src/unix/notbsd/linux/mod.rs.

If you're not 100% sure at what level of the hierarchy an API should be added
at, fear not! This crate has CI support which tests any binding against all
platforms supported, so you'll see failures if an API is added at the wrong
level or has different signatures across platforms.

Test before you commit

Use the skip_*() functions in build.rs if you really need a workaround.

Style checker

rustc ci/style.rs && ./style src

Releasing your change to crates.io

Now that you've done the amazing job of landing your new API or your new
platform in this crate, the next step is to get that sweet, sweet usage from
crates.io! The only next step is to bump the version of libc and then publish
it. If you'd like to get a release out ASAP you can follow these steps:

Update the version number in Cargo.toml, you'll just be bumping the patch
version number.

Run cargo update to regenerate the lockfile to encode your version bump in
the lock file. You may pull in some other updated dependencies, that's ok.

Send a PR to this repository. It should look like this, but it'd
also be nice to fill out the description with a small rationale for the
release (any rationale is ok though!)

Once merged the release will be tagged and published by one of the libc crate
maintainers.

Platforms and Documentation

The following platforms are currently tested and have documentation available: